skin care, beauty and healthy lifestyle tips

This week’s video is a detailed overview of how to give yourself a spa-quality facial at home. My family owns a well-known day spa in San Diego, CA, The Vasseur Skin Clinic & Spa (we have a 5-star rating on Yelp and have won “best facial in San Diego” twice) and I went in this week to interview the staff to get their best tips and tricks. Here is the video:

Since there are quite a few steps to getting a real spa-like facial experience at home, I also wanted to write them down for you so that you can easily refer to it. And since Valentine’s Day is coming up soon, I think this would be a great way to pamper yourself or an idea for a fun girls night in with friends ♡♡♡

Also — please come follow me on social media if you haven’t already!! I love making friends and chatting with you guys! I’m @vasseurbeauty on twitter and instagram, so it’s easy to remember. I tweet fun daily musings and video sneak peaks and I use instagram pretty often as well- the direct links are on the top right side of this page 🙂

HOW TO FACIAL AT HOME STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS: (click to read)

PREP FACE

Start by washing your face with a gentle, ph-balanced cleanser. Whatever cleanser you use, check to make sure it does not contain sulfates – these are drying and irritating to the skin

To properly wash your face massage the cleanser into your skin and rise with tepid water, splash face 5-10 times then gently pat your skin dry with a clean washcloth. We don’t want to pull and tug at our skin.

I follow with eye makeup remover to remove any lingering eye makeup – I am currently using bioderma for this but a regular eye makeup remover works just fine as well.

Then I like to apply a lip treatment and also some olive oil on my lashes as a pre-treatment. The steam is going to allow these to penetrate into our skin.

Castor oil works even better for your lashes if you have it on hand (I didn’t)!

PREP STEAM

Prep your stem by filling up a large pot with water and set on the stove to boil.

WARM TOWEL

While I wait for water to boil I wet a hand towel and ring it out so it’s just damp and not dripping. Then put it in the microwave for 20-30 seconds until warm.

Then I lie down and put warm towel on my face. The steam and warmth from the towel begins to open the pores and is also very relaxing.

I lay like this for 5-10 minutes as I wait for the water to boil.

STEAM FACE

Once I hear the water starting to boil I remove the lid and turn down the heat to a gentle boil.

Then I add a green tea bag to the water – this infuses it with antioxidants and is also a little aromatherapy treatment. You could also a few drops of essential oils.

Then carefully put your face over the steam and let it penetrate your skin for 5 minutes. Be very careful and don’t put your face too close, just close enough to absorb the steam.

FACE MASK

Then is time to apply your mask – I’m testing a new hydrating mask that my mom is developing that contains hyaluronic acid, argan oil, camilla oil, and glutathione (all superstar hydrating ingredients!). I will let you know when the product launches – it’s freaking amazing it made my skin feel like a newborn baby!! She’s still making some last minute adjustments before it launches. Here is a link to a similar mask: http://www.vasseurskincare.com/products/Blackberry-Sage-Masque.html

If you want to make a DIY face mask, some good recipes can be found here http://www.rd.com/slideshows/homemade-facial-masks-recipes/

I do also want to mention that even oily skin needs hydration – our skin needs to be balanced and hydrated otherwise it will produce more oil to compensate!

If you have a brush (i.e. clarsonic etc), you can use it here, I personally don’t because I have sensitive skin.

When exfoliating, be very gentle and be sure to not tear the skin.

In a professional facial this is the point you would typically receive extractions, but I don’t recommend you do these at home, because you could cause scarring and also spread bacteria to the area. Extractions should be left to the professionals.

In the video do a demo of a facial massage that you can follow give yourself a facial massage at home. You can also give yourself a facial massage daily – it improves circulation and blood flow to the face, which makes our skin look more plump, glowing and radiant. Helps in particular with dark circles around the eye area.

FINALIZE

Then you want to finish off with some skin care products, based on what your skin concerns are – here are my recommendations based on common skin concerns (Vasseur Products, you can read more about Vasseur Skincare and why I recommend it below)

Dry, red winter skin: Hyuronic Acid Serum, ALA, Supermoist

Oily: Mandelic Acid Serum, ALA, Hydrogel

Anti aging: Super Serum, DMAE, Supermoist

WHY I RECOMMEND VASSEUR SKINCARE

I don’t often go into detail about Vasseur Skincare – because in all honesty I don’t want to come off as biased or as an infomercial since it is my mother’s company. But the 100% truth is this: now that I’m extremely educated about skin care – the industry, how it’s made and ingredients — there is no other skin care I would ever use. Even if it was not my mom’s business.

Here’s why:

The main thing that makes Vasseur products different is that they contain the highest concentrations of active ingredients on the market. The vast majority of skin care only contains small concentrations of active ingredients and include a lot of fillers and additives, which make the products less potent. Vasseur products include more active ingredients (that produce results) and also don’t contain any of the junk – NO chemical preservatives, synthetic fillers, additives, parabens, sulfates, toxins or animal cruelty.

Also, Vasseur products are made fresh bi-monthly so that the ingredients remain active and alive. Most skin care on the market is designed to have a shelf life of 2-5 years so heat, stabilizers and aggressive preservatives are required to extend their shelf-life. The negative impact on the product is that most of the beneficial nutrients are destroyed. And the longer skin care sits on the shelf, the more inactive its ingredients become. Vasseur products only have natural preservatives and are shipped weeks of being freshly made so the ingredients are in their most active, potent form. Think of this as the difference between buying processed, prepackaged food versus fresh farmer’s market produce.

If you are interested in trying Vasseur Skincare my subscribers can use code YOUTUBE for 15% off their first order http://www.vasseurskincare.com I’ve already had so many of you guys write to me saying that you started using and love the products and that makes me so happy! FOR THE RECORD — I am not on youtube to sell products (I don’t gat paid to make videos) but my mother is my hero and I genuinely support her and love the products.

These are my current favorite daily-use skin care products for winter (I have oily/acne prone skin but currently dealing with winter dryness)

Mandelic acid serum – this is THE BEST acne product I have ever used. It’s a slow form molecule so that it penetrates slowly into the skin, which means that it does not dry out the skin or cause irritation or redness like so many other acne products. My holy grail skin care product, cannot live without it. http://www.vasseurskincare.com/mandelic-acid-serum/

Gold Serum – powerhouse eye treatment that prevents and reduces eye wrinkles. I like that it comes in a rollerball so that it’s super easy to apply. I am so hooked on this stuff I use it 3x a day! http://www.vasseurskincare.com/gold-serum/

Supermoist – powerful moisturizer, great for dry winter months. Also contains several anti-aging antioxidants (DMAE, ester C, Alpha Lipoic Acid) so it also smoothes skin and refines pores. And the smell from the sweet orange extract is AMAZING!!! http://www.vasseurskincare.com/super-moist/

If you want to learn even more about skin care, check out my other skincare videos i’ve done here:

Thanks for the great instructions for home facials! I read your written guidelines. Can’t watch the videos because I live way out in the country…slow internet!
Your notes did not specify a recommended mask. Did I miss that part or did you include one? FYI: I am 61 yrs old and have dry sun-damaged skin. I’m a redhead. Of course I have used sunscreen for many years now, but in my youth and during my 20’s and early 30’s we all sunbathed freely without sunscreen..so I have a lot of residual sun damage. Any tips or product recommendations would be sincerely appreciated!
Thank you so much!
Carolyn